1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a windrow merger. In one embodiment, the invention relates to a merger for a single windrow. In one example, the invention relates to a ground contour following 3-D floatation header for enhanced collection of crop in the field.
2. Description of the Related Art
Windrow mergers are commonly used in the agricultural field for combining windrows or rows of crops. In some applications, the windrow merger is pulled along a direction of travel in the field by a towing vehicle such as a tractor or other motorized vehicle. The towing vehicle will typically make several passes with the windrow merger, combining windrows with each pass. Later, a forage harvester or baler harvests the combined windrows. By combining the windrows, the merger makes each pass with a forage harvester or baler more productive. The merger also operates to turn over the windrows, enhancing drying and conditioning of crops. Use of a merger also reduces fuel costs, man-hours, and wear and tear on the harvester or baler equipment.
Conventional single windrow mergers may have certain drawbacks. For example, conventional mergers sometimes do not follow the ground contour very well and therefore wastefully leave crop in the field. Some conventional mergers have gage wheels on each side of a header that keeps the head at a certain distance from the ground, allowing the header to pivot about an axis that is perpendicular to the direction of travel. Allowing this rotation typically provides the ability to raise and lower the header. As the gage wheels encounter obstructions in a field position, the gage wheels raise the full header up and over the obstruction and back down on to the level ground. As the gage wheel rolls over the obstruction and the full head is raised, even the end of the header that does not encounter the obstruction. In other words, the right and left ends of the header travel in the vertical direction together, and crop in the windrow may be missed and not gathered into the newly formed windrow when one of the gage wheels encounters a small obstruction. Any crop left in the field amounts to lost productivity. Such losses include reduced overall yields of the field, delay of re-growth in these areas, and reduced cleanliness of the field.